FARMERS WON’T SEE CUT TO WATER RATES

Council agrees to raise rates for residential customers, hold them steady for growers

Escondido farmers won’t get the 44 percent water rate cut they wanted, but their rates will remain flat while the city’s merchants and residential customers face sharp increases March 1.

Seeking to help Escondido’s agriculture industry survive, City Council members voted Wednesday to shield farmers from 12 to 14 percent rate hikes the council approved for the city’s 26,000 other water customers.

Council members said the subsidy for farmers was justified because they account for more than 2,000 local jobs and an estimated $200 million in economic activity.

They said the farms also boost the city’s appearance, serve as a wildfire buffer and represent Escondido’s history.

“The only reason why the city of Escondido is here is the agriculture,” Councilman Ed Gallo said.

The water hikes approved by the council for everyone else include 12 percent increases for typical families, 14 percent spikes for residential customers using lots of water, and a 13 percent jump for most merchants.

The council also agreed to increase sewer rates 4 percent on March 1. So a typical family will see its monthly utility bill increase 8 percent, from $87.70 to $94.98, city officials said.

Council members wanted to help farmers even more, but said they were forced to reject a recent rate proposal from agricultural users because it might violate state law.

Escondido Growers for Agricultural Preservation, a lobbying group consisting of farmers, proposed a 44 percent water rate cut that would have cost $1.9 million.

Leaders of the group suggested the city could recoup the lost revenue by increasing sewer rates 12 percent instead of 4 percent.

The reasoning behind the proposal was that local farms will be the No. 1 customer for recycled sewer water when Escondido completes a recycled water line in about two years. Recycled water is not safe enough to drink, but it can be used for irrigation.

Without customers for recycled water, the city might be forced to spend roughly $300 million widening pipes that carry treated sewage to the ocean. Cities that are less rural than Escondido often struggle to find customers for their recycled water, relying primarily on golf courses.

“When the recycled water is ready to deliver, you need the farmers there to open the valves,” Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, told the council Wednesday.

Local farmer Eddie Grangetto said many farms might go bankrupt or abandon some trees if the city doesn’t help.

“This would keep an important part of Escondido’s business community alive and healthy,” he said.

But Chris McKinney, the city’s utilities director, said intermingling water and sewer rates probably violates Proposition 218, a 1996 state measure that restricts how government agencies collect and use fees.

McKinney said it could be illegal to charge sewer customers extra based on some uncertain, future benefit the sewer customers would receive when the farmers begin buying recycled water.

Proposition 218 says the money collected must be for services rendered, which would be treating sewer water in this case, he said.

Councilwoman Olga Diaz, the council’s most ardent supporter of agriculture, urged her colleagues and McKinney to search for other ways to increase the subsidy to farmers.

“Holding the line is not enough,” she said. “As a residential ratepayer, I don’t mind paying more.”

But Mayor Sam Abed said holding rates steady for farmers was prudent.

“We have to walk a fine line and be fair to all concerned,” he said. “There are residents and small businesses struggling in this economy.”